Author Archive

Family & Friends, Third (& Last) Top Ten More Reasons that I Know that I’m Back in Rwanda 30. Posters and announcements, “Be on time, the world will not wait for us.” But, who cares. 29. The buzzing of a mosquito is a relief since the mosquitoes which spread malaria are silent. 28. Men’s shoes […]

Family & Friends, SECOND Top Ten Reasons that I Know that I’m Back in Rwanda 20. When you change $100 to Rwandan Francs, you need a suitcase to hold all the bills. 19. The line in the middle of the road is mere decoration, but feel free to use either side of the road for […]

Dear Family & Friends Ten Top Reasons that I Know that I am Back in Rwanda 10. My car is covered in red dust just hours after getting washed. 9. My room had dead cockroaches on the floor. “Help, I turned over and can’t get up!” 8. My drinking water consists entirely of bottled water. […]

Family & Friends, Before I left Portland for home in Kigali, I had the joy of lunch with my missionary mentors, Norm and Muriel Cook. We went out for Chinese, of course. I was interested in longevity and they model keeping your missionary boots on for the long haul. They asked me how old I […]

Family & Friends, I walked into the storehouse cavern and thought “iboombo”. Not only, “candy”, but a huge “candy store” for a bibliophile. And this book lover was in awe. The rafters had international flags including Rwanda with its yellow star on sky blue background. That was the sight as I trekked from the offices […]

Family & Friends, What do you say to a church after 15 months in Africa and four minutes to report? (1) Four minutes is enough since if you want more there is the “Friesen Fortnightly”. (2) I am “elder on mission”. It is a good title, but also embodies a paradigm shift. I am sent […]

Family & Friends, My last posting called “Theologian of Genocide,” raised a question for some readers. What is a “theologian of genocide”?. The conundrum of how a good God could allow evil has always been with us. It is quickly on the lips of those who think that belief in God is a harmful deception. […]

Family & Friends, I’m on the theological prowl. I know my target, but I don’t know how to get there. It is too politically sensitive. It is too difficult to fathom. It is too troubling to ponder for long. But, it is too important to ignore. Rwanda needs a theologian of genocide. They must be […]

Family & Friends, My new Kigali existence is 15 months old. My old life seems distant. I now call Kigali home though I am still an alien. But Christ followers are aliens anyway and looking for better country (Hebrews 11). I’m now extremely rich. Everyone assumes I could fund their dream or pay their school […]

Family & Friends, The other day I was day dreaming and remembered a scene in Michigan. I spent a year caring for my father and his Alzheimer’s. We had an old experienced doctor looking at my memory-less father. After talking to dad for a few minutes he assessed what we already knew. “He has no […]